Note--Tajikistan has experienced
three changes of government since it gained independence in September 1991.
The current president, Emomali RAKHMONOV, was elected to the presidency in
November 1994, yet has been in power since 1992. The country is suffering
through its third year of a civil war, with no clear end in sight. Underlying
the conflict are deeply-rooted regional and clan-based animosities that pit
a government consisting of people primarily from the Kulob (Kulyab), Khujand
(Leninabad), and Hisor (Hissar) regions against a secular and Islamic-led
opposition from the Gharm, Gorno-Badakhshan, and Qurghonteppa (Kurgan-Tyube)
regions. Government and opposition representatives have held periodic rounds
of UN-mediated peace talks and agreed in September 1994 to a cease-fire.
Russian-led peacekeeping troops are deployed throughout the country, and
Russian border guards are stationed along the Tajik-Afghan border.

Geography

Location: Central Asia, west of China

Map references: Commonwealth of Independent States - Central Asian States

International disputes: boundary with China in dispute; territorial dispute with Kyrgyzstan
on northern boundary in Isfara Valley area; Afghanistan's and other foreign
support to Tajik rebels based in northern Afghanistan

Environment:current issues: inadequate sanitation facilities; increasing levels of soil salinity;
industrial pollution; excessive pesticides; part of the basin of the shrinking
Aral Sea which suffers from severe overutilization of available water for
irrigation and associated pollution
natural hazards: NA
international agreements: NA

Legal system: based on civil law system; no judicial review of legislative acts

Suffrage: 18 years of age; universal

Executive branch:chief of state: President Emomili RAKHMONOV (since 6 November 1994; was Head of State
and Assembly Chairman since NA November 1992); election last held 6 November
1994 (next to be held NA 1998); results - Emomili RAKHMONOV 58%, Abdumalik
ABDULLAJANOV 40%
head of government: Prime Minister Jamshed KARIMOV (since 2 December 1994)
cabinet: Council of Ministers

Legislative branch: unicameral
Supreme Soviet: elections last held 26 February 1994 (next to be held NA); results
- percent of vote by party NA; estimated seats - (181 total) Communist Party
and affiliates 100, Popular Party 10, Party of Political and Economic Progress
1, Party of Popular Unity 6, other 64

Judicial branch: Prosecutor General

Political parties and leaders: Communist Party (People's Party of Tajikistan - PPT), Abdumalik ABDULAJANOV;
Party of Economic Freedom (PEF), Abdumalik ABDULAJANOV; Tajik Socialist Party
(TSP), Shodi SHABDOLOV; Tajik Democratic Party (TDP), Abdu-Nabi SATARZADE,
chairman; note - suspended for six months; Islamic Renaissance Party (IRP),
Sayed Abdullo NURI, chairman; Rebirth (Rastokhez), Takhir ABDUZHABOROV; Lali
Badakhshan Society, Atobek AMIRBEK; People's Democratic Party (PDP), Abdujalil
HAMIDOV, chairman; Tajikistan Party of Economic and Political Renewal (TPEPR),
Mukhtor BOBOYEV
note: all the above-listed parties except the Communist Party, the Party
of National Unity, and the People's Party were banned in June 1993

Other political or pressure groups: Tajikistan Opposition Movement based in northern Afghanistan

Flag: three horizontal stripes of red (top), a wider stripe of white, and
green; a crown surmounted by seven five-pointed stars is located in the center
of the white stripe

Economy

Overview: Tajikistan had the next-to-lowest per capita GDP in the former USSR,
the highest rate of population growth, and an extremely low standard of living.
Agriculture dominates the economy, cotton being the most important crop.
Mineral resources, varied but limited in amount, include silver, gold, uranium,
and tungsten. Industry is limited to a large aluminum plant, hydropower facilities,
and small obsolete factories mostly in light industry and food processing.
The Tajik economy has been gravely weakened by three years of civil war and
by the loss of subsidies and markets for its products, which has left Tajikistan
dependent on Russia and Uzbekistan and on international humanitarian assistance
for much of its basic subsistence needs. Moreover, constant political turmoil
and the continued dominance by former Communist officials have impeded the
introduction of meaningful economic reforms. In the meantime, Tajikistan's
efforts to adopt the Russian ruble as its domestic currency despite Russia's
unwillingness to supply sufficient rubles left the country in a severe monetary
crisis throughout 1994, keeping inflation low but leaving workers and pensioners
unpaid for months at a time. The government has announced plans to introduce
its own currency in 1995 to help resolve the problem.

National product: GDP - purchasing power parity - $8.5 billion (1994 estimate as extrapolated
from World Bank estimate for 1992)

National product real growth rate: -12% (1994 est.)

National product per capita: $1,415 (1994 est.)

Inflation rate (consumer prices): NA%

Unemployment rate: 1.5% includes only officially registered unemployed; also large numbers
of underemployed workers and unregistered unemployed people (September 1994)

Illicit drugs: illicit cultivation of cannabis and opium poppy; mostly for CIS consumption;
used as transshipment points for illicit drugs from Southwest Asia to Western
Europe and North America

Economic aid:recipient: Russia and Uzbekistan reportedly provided substantial general assistance
throughout 1993 and 1994; Western aid and credits promised through the end
of 1993 were $700 million but disbursements were only $104 million; large
scale development loans await IMF approval of a reform and stabilization
plan

Currency: 1 ruble (R) = 100 kopeks; Tajikistan uses the Russian ruble as its
currency by agreement with Russia; government has plans to introduce its
own currency, the Tajik ruble, in 1995

Exchange rates: NA

Fiscal year: calendar year

Transportation

Railroads:total: 480 km in common carrier service; does not include industrial lines
(1990)

Communications

Telephone system: 303,000 telephones (December 1991); about 55 telephones/1,000 persons
(1991); poorly developed and not well maintained; many towns are not reached
by the national network
local: NA
intercity: cable and microwave radio relay
international: linked by cable and microwave to other CIS republics, and by leased
connections to the Moscow international gateway switch; Dushanbe linked by
INTELSAT to international gateway switch in Ankara; 1 Orbita and 2 INTELSAT
earth stations